Triumphrat

Ultrarepo

I'm at the point that I need to get my tank re-painted ready for my rebuild the new year. I'm planning on a standard scheme for the year (68) of aquamarine with silver sheen stripe. A couple of questions -

Can anyone recommend a good painter (somewhere in the NW would be good)?

Any guidance on what I should expect to pay? My tank appears to be un-dented and in sound condition.

I'm also thinking about having it sealed. As far as I have observed it doesn't leak but it would be a real pain to have it painted and then find that it does. Is sealing something that a bike/tank specialist painter might tackle as part of the job?

Thanks!

JohnA

Evening Ultrarepo - try this: www.tankcareproducts.co.uk (why doesn't this come up as a live link? God I'm crap with computers!)

Anyway, this chap is based near Norwich, just down the road from me. I took my spare US T140 tank to him, having heard some good reports. I haven't had it back yet so I can;t give first-hand experience, but when I took it over he seemed a nice bloke and his workshop was full of some really very nice tanks eg: Vincent, Brough, veteran ALS, Triumph, Norton - you name it, there was a tank off it there and looking really beautiful. It's obvious that a lot of people with very rare and expensive bikes entrust their tanks to him, so that made me feel confident about my decision to use him.

He quoted me £350 to strip my tank to bare metal by blasting; blast internally as far as possible but follow-up with chemical metal cleaning; treat with fancy epoxy sealer (same stuff as Caswell) internally; fill dents (there are at least a couple of small ones); repair the central mounting tube where the bottom flange has been damaged; repair the top of the same where it has been brazed; spray with 1969 colour scheme (Olympic Flame over Silver Sheen with Silver Sheen scallops and white pinstripes painted on - not done using tape!

I thought that seemed a very reasonable price. It is supposed to be ready by the end of January, so I'll report back then (with a photo or two hopefully)

Edit: I take it all back, I'm a computer genius - the link does work!

Ultrarepo

Fantastic John, thanks for the detailed response.

This guy sounds like exactly the sort of one stop shop I'm looking for and looking at his prices for sealing alone, it means that has paint price is highly competitive. Not that I've seen many quotes but I had £3-400 in mind as being about right. Having said that I had a quick chat with the paint guy on the SRM stand at the Stafford show and he mentioned nearer £700

I'll be very interested in some further feedback and pics when you have your tank back.

Thanks again

Nick